Tag Archives: fisher body plant

A Detroit firefighter is in stable condition after he fell from an aerial bucket Wednesday morning while battling a fire at the old Fisher Body plant.

Ladder 7 firefighter Nicholas Benskey was pulled away from the debris, put on a stretcher and taken to Detroit Receiving Hospital.

“He initially was knocked unconscious. After a bit, he came to,” said Second Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Dougherty. “He knew who he was and where he was.”

Benskey, who is married and a father of four, has been with the department for 10 years.

Fire Chief John King said investigators are still working to find out what led to the fall.

“We have belts on there to secure you in place,” King said — but he declined to answer whether he knew if Benskey was wearing one.

Crews initially responded about 4:30 a.m. to extinguish a fire and they returned to the scene around 7:30 a.m. when the fire rekindled.

The plant is near I-75 and I-94.

The audio above from firefighterdispatch is from the fire this (Wednesday) morning at the Fisher Body plant in Detroit that injured Firefighter Nicholas Benskey, who jumped from the bucket of the tower ladder as a portion of the building collapsed.

At 5:39 you hear someone radio to the bucket to back up and then the messages get more urgent. This is followed by the firefighter on the radio saying “Don’t jump!” The next transmission is for EMS to come to the scene.

Detroit Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Dougherty told reporters this morning, “Part of the building started to collapse. It appears that one of the firefighters then jumped out of the bucket.” Indications are the Firefighter Benskey dropped about 30 feet. A second firefighter in the bucket of the tower ladder was not injured.

Wednesday evening WJBK-TV reported the following on Firefighter Benskey’s condition:

“He initially was knocked unconscious,” said second deputy Detroit fire commissioner Craig Dougherty. “After a bit, he came to and he knew who he was, and he knew where he was.”

The firefighter, who has about 10 years of experience, was in the bucket with another firefighter, spraying flames into the second floor on the southeast side of the plant, Dougherty said. The second firefighter remained in the bucket and was uninjured, he said.